Morgan County continues to dominate under Friday night lights and shows no signs of backing down anytime soon.
The Dogs (6-0) defeated Westside of Macon 56-14 at home on Sept. 26, claiming their first region victory.
Early in the first quarter, Morgan County made a statement to take control of the game when senior wide receiver Makai Owens scored a touchdown after blocking a punt.
Head coach Clint Jenkins said the special teams touchdown motivated the Dogs to a quick start. He said he believes his players on both sides of the ball did a good job of maintaining their momentum throughout the entire game.
“It was a great start for our special teams, and any time you can get a special teams score, it always gets your offense and defense going, “ Jenkins said. “I just thought that we didn’t let up offensively or defensively after that, so I’m definitely pleased with that coming off the bye week.”
Morgan County’s offense scored seven touchdowns in the game, with contributions from multiple players. Senior quarterback Davis Strickland played for three quarters and completed 13 of 19 pass attempts for 238 yards and three touchdowns.
Junior wide receiver Cole Wesley caught one ball for a 31-yard touchdown. Senior pass catcher Ty Tillery also hauled in five receptions for 114 yards and two touchdowns.
Senior running back Christian Monfort led the team with 130 rushing yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns. He also hauled in two receptions for 40 yards, for a total of 170 yards from scrimmage.
Jenkins said the offense’s successful performance is a result of efforts from the offensive line.
“I credit the offensive line, because we were able to run the ball like we wanted to, and, when we felt like we had opportunities to take shots, we were very accurate,” Jenkins said. “For the most part, we were able to run and throw it and kind of stick to the plan and just take what they gave us.”
Morgan County’s defense also forced two turnovers, intercepting Westside quarterback James Neville twice. The Seminoles were also held to -6 rushing yards in the lopsided loss to the Dogs.
Jenkins believes that Westside challenged the Morgan County secondary with its passing game.
“To be able to come away with some turnovers was good for our secondary and their confidence, and to hold somebody to negative rushing is pretty good,” Jenkins said. “Our defensive front and linebackers played well again, too, and so we’ve just got to keep getting better.”
Overall, Jenkins said he was equally impressed with the entire team’s performance, but believes Morgan’s special teams also stood out with multiple improvements, as the unit had its best game of the season so far.
“I thought it was probably our best game on special teams because we didn’t miss an extra point, which has kind of been a little bit of a thorn in our side,” Jenkins said. “And again, getting the blocked kick for a score ignited the whole thing. It was big.”
With the remainder of the season, Jenkins hopes to see the Dogs make improvements in blocking and completing passes.
“We still missed some throws, there are still some things we can do to block better, and we had some issues with our perimeter guys getting lined up,” Jenkins said. “It’s always a work in progress, but that’s what’s fun about [football]; it’s a really hard game and it’s hard to play perfect.”
During the second half of the matchup, Morgan County senior two-way player Jordan Gordon exited the game with a high ankle sprain, and his status for the upcoming week is currently unknown.
Jenkins noted that Gordon didn’t suffer any broken bones but may take a couple of weeks to recover.
The Dogs will continue their region slate this Friday against Rutland (0-5) in Macon.